YUM. This baked cheesy rice is an ideal side dish for Thanksgiving or steak night, this baked cheesy rice is ooey gooey with tons of cheesy flavor. Start with leftover rice, stir in some yummy flavors, and bake it all together for a naturally gluten free, vegetarian side dish that everyone will love! Pair this with seared cast iron skillet salmon and a quick green salad for an easy weeknight dinner.
OH HELLO, you delicious, gorgeous, super simple side dish.
I absolutely cannot overstate what a gem this cheesy baked rice recipe is. It is super simple, cozy, delicious, and a really great use for leftover rice - use up what you have, OR make extra on purpose earlier in the week as part of your meal prep!
This recipe takes less than an hour to make and half of that is hands-off baking time, so it's a perfect addition to a weeknight rotation of Things That Don't Require A Lot of Effort Because I Am Very Tired. (see also: pizza quesadillas!)
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Ingredients and Ingredient Notes
- Rice: You can truly use any rice you like here - unlike garlic beef fried rice, which benefits from dry/leftover rice, freshly cooked OR leftover rice work perfectly here. That said, this is a great use for leftover takeout rice that's sitting in your fridge waiting for a nice home.
- Garlic: One clove, grated right into the dish OR finely minced. I use a small grater to go quickly and so the garlic mixes evenly into the dish.
- Cheese: A combo of sharp Parm and something creamy is my favorite here. This is one time where I'd suggest grating your own cheese and using Parmesan with as few fillers as possible (my grated stuff comes from Trader Joe's and it's delicious and melts well, a little better than green-jar Parm). The grated cheese can be any melty cheese you like - fontina, cheddar cheese, mozzarella, and any of the Jack cheeses all work well.
**See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F if serving immediately. Add all the ingredients EXCEPT a small bit of the cheese to a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the rice with the rest of the ingredients. Take your time to ensure that everything is evenly mixed together. Taste a bit (yes, weird cold-ish cheese), and add salt and pepper to your preference.
- Spoon the rice mixture into a medium-sized baking dish (a square cake pan or equivalent works well!), and top it with any cheese you reserved from Step 1.
- Bake the cheesy rice for 20-30 minutes until hot all the way through and bubbly on top. Baking time will depend on whether or not you bake this immediately or from the fridge, just check after 20 minutes and every 5 minutes after that until the rice is perfect.
YUM. Cheesy baked rice is one of those dishes that is really, really good on its own because it has so much flavor from the garlic and cheese, but also pairs so nicely with other dishes to make a full meal.
What to Serve with Baked Cheesy Rice
I love this rice as a side dish on Thanksgiving with Dry Glazed Ham or Smoked Turkey Breast, but it's also really yummy on a weeknight with a quick lemony green salad and marinated grilled chicken!
Recipe Notes and FAQ
Yep! We add tons of ingredients to add moisture and flavor to leftover rice to make this recipe and baking everything together makes a creamy, super flavorful cheesy baked rice dish.
Any melty cheese you like works really well here. I recommend grating cheese yourself since block cheese melts a little better than bagged grated cheese. Fontina, mozzarella, unsmoked provolone, cheddar cheese, and Monterrey jack all work perfectly in this recipe.
Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3-5 days, microwaved for a few minutes to bring them back to life before you enjoy them again.
Make Ahead and Leftover Storage
This is a PERFECT make-ahead side dish; stir everything together and put it in the baking dish you're going to use, then just bake it right before you'd like to eat it.
The rice stays warm a long time (carbs hold heat longer than veggies and protein!), so it works well to bake this before going to a potluck meal and sticking it back in the oven maybe for 5 minutes right before you eat.
Meal Planning Pro Tip: I always like to think about if I'm using the oven, stovetop, etc too much when I'm making a meal plan (am I running out of room?), so when I know I have a lot of dishes to go in the oven I like to have another side in the slow cooker - on Thanksgiving we always have Slow Cooker Stuffing and it saves a ton of space in the oven!
Recipe
Baked Cheesy Rice
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups cooked white rice (see note above)
- 4 ounces (about 2 cups) grated fontina cheese (see note above)
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup sour cream (preferably full-fat)
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1 clove garlic grated or finely minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine all of the ingredients EXCEPT a handful of the fontina in a large bowl.
- Mix the rice with the cheese and other ingredients, taste once and add more salt and pepper until the mixture is very flavorful.
- Spread the rice mixture into a baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the rice is hot all the way through and the cheese on top is bubbly. This can be made in advance up to the last baking step and kept in the fridge for 2-3 days, then baked freshly before serving. YUM.
Juyali
I usually use my leftover rice for fried rice. But this was such a delicious way to change this up. This recipe turned my rice into another superstar! Great recipe idea. Thanks. 🙂
Agnieszka
I made this rice and it turned out amazing. I could eat this by the buckets! My kids loved it, too.
Michele
This is a very versatile recipe as I've made it with different types of cheeses and also added in cooked broccoli, peas and even red pepper. Delicious!
Oscar
This baked cheesy rice was a hit! A super easy way to use up rice and turn it into a creamy, cheesy side dish.